The Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition (GRAC) held a speak-out on Thursday to discuss their unionization effort ahead of next week’s election, where Resident Assistants (RAs) will decide whether to officially form a union.
The panel was moderated by two members of Georgetown’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor as part of their country-wide #LaborSpring programming, a series of speak-outs and teaching events in solidarity with workers. Speakers at the event included Izzy Wagener (SFS ’26), Aayush Murarka (SFS ’26), Sam Lovell (CAS ’25) and Nico Reyes (CAS ’24) who shared some of their personal experiences as RAs and their hopes for the union going forward.
GRAC announced its decision to unionize under OPEIU Local 153 on March 22. RAs will formally vote on unionization on April 16, as Georgetown chose not to voluntarily recognize the union. If a majority of RAs vote to join, then all RAs going forward will become members of the union.
Despite Georgetown’s lack of voluntary recognition, panelists said that the university has not impeded the election process.
“[Georgetown hasn’t] been engaging in union busting, they have agreed to remain neutral, they haven’t tried to persuade RAs to disagree to join the union,” Lovell said.
Following a winning vote, RAs would be set to begin the negotiation process to determine the specific components of their new contract. Some potential demands to be included have been laid out in a public document from GRAC, including equitable compensation for RAs receiving financial aid, mental health support, and accountability processes for Community Directors.
The speakers also expressed concerns around a lack of transparency from Residential Living on hiring decisions and the inconsistent enforcement of certain policies for RAs. For example, under their current contract, RAs are designated as at-will employees, meaning they can be dismissed without an explanation or justification.
“I think that that stipulation in our contract has made it easy for RAs to be fired without cause,” Wagener said.
Disclaimer: Izzy Wagener is the Voice‘s photo editor.
In some cases, RAs have faced consequences for minor issues like timeliness or communication problems, the panelists contended.
“People have been written up for being three minutes late to a staff meeting, for checking into being on duty 10 minutes late,” Lovell said. “It’s not that RAs shouldn’t have expectations, but that they should be applied equally.”
Speakers also cited a lack of support from Residential Living as another cause for unionization. RAs are often responsible for handling emotionally sensitive or distressing situations, and have felt alone and without services to take care of themselves in the process.
“To be able to kind of care for your residents, to be able to be the first line of defense when it comes to being there when people are feeling isolated and alone,” Murarka said. “To feel safe and supported in that process is really important.”
Reyes noted that although he has had a generally positive experience as an RA, he decided to join the union when he realized that Georgetown was offering a contract with significantly fewer benefits compared to other universities.
“RAs give up a significant portion of their financial aid to become RAs, they give up their work study,” Reyes said.
Once they are hired by Residential Living, the compensation RAs receive is counted as a form of financial aid, however, it does not stack on top of an RA’s existing financial aid package meaning that RAs who receive financial aid may receive far less compensation for their role as an RA than RAs who aren’t eligible for financial aid.
“Then I saw other schools where you get the RA job and financial aid on top of it, which makes so much sense, but when you’re in the dark from other schools you don’t think about it,” said Reyes.
In February, a new set of RAs were hired to join the team for the upcoming school year, and if the union passes, they would become the initial group of first-year RAs to become members. The speakers were enthusiastic about how the decision to unionize could positively impact new and future RAs.
“I’m just looking forward to them having a better support system,” Wagener said.“Having a way to have their concerns addressed rather than feeling adrift and alone without that support.”
Murarka added that he is excited for future union members, who won’t experience some of the challenges of being an RA without representation.
“This is kind of a way of making sure that RAs continue to feel supported when the moment is gone after the new hiring process, to make sure that they know that there is a framework and that they are being protected,” Murarka said. “A union is really the way to make sure that legacy is being left behind for them.”
Disclaimer: Izzy Wagener is a member of the Voice.
